And So It Begins
by HeavensNight
Summary: AU. Starting at a new school should have been so exciting, but for Jill Valentine it becomes more of a nightmare than anything else. As "The New Girl" she alone faces the seemingly impossible task of getting the other students to accept her. ON HIATUS
1. And so it begins

There aren't enough AU Resident Evil fics and not nearly enough fics depicting them all as kids in highschool. So now I give you my take of them as youngsters. Both friendships and relationships will be formed, and it will be mostly Chris and Jill centric. All your old favourites will appear at some time or other, so uh, just read and see what you think of this first chapter, hehe.

The first thing she became aware of upon waking up was the alarm ringing loudly in her ear.

"Fucks sake," Jill murmered, grabbing hold of her pillow and throwing it over her head directly at the source of the annoying sound. The alarm fell from the bedside table and onto the floor, where it still countinued to ring shrilly in her ears. Jill sat up, hair dishevelled, wishing she had some sort of remote on her that could turn down the volume. She just wanted to go back to sleep. Just for another five minutes, was that too much to ask?

"Jill," came her mother's voice, speaking loudly over the alarm, "Wake up. You've got school."

School? Shit. The fact that this was going to be her first day at this new school? _Double_ shit.

Unable to bear the annoying ringing for any longer, Jill got up, bent down and picked up the alarm, and after fiddling with it for a few seconds the noise finally ceased. She could hear hurried footsteps out in the hall, probably belonging to her brother Bobby, who always liked to make a lot of noise every morning, whether it was a weekday or not. Jill suddenly caught sight of herself in the mirror and groaned upon seeing herself. A tall, skinny girl stared back at her with large, panda eyes. _Must have forgotten to remove my make-up again last night._

They'd only just moved here to Raccoon City seven days prior, and now that summer was drawing to a close it was time to go back to school. Well, not back to her _original _school, the place she'd actually loved and been educated at for over two years, but her _new _school. Yes, she was now about to become a Junior, and was absolutely terrified at the prospect of going to a new school and having to do what she had done back at her old school all over again. She took in her current appearance. Well, she didn't look too bad. She was pretty, she knew that. Johnny Thompson had known that, too, the boy she'd had to leave to come here, and just when she'd been starting to really fall for him, too. Oh well. There was nothing that could be done about that now. She'd just have to make the best of things, that's all.

And who knew, maybe they'd go back at some point in the near future? Jill's dad _had _chosen to come over to Raccoon City afterall, so maybe there was an outside chance that his old Boss would welcome him back with open arms, should he choose to return? Jill just hoped he would consider it. She'd taken a quick look around the city a few days ago shortly after they'd arrived, and already she could tell that she wasn't going to like it. The people just didn't seem all that great, not that civilized, to put it another way. She'd noticed a few of them glaring at her as she'd walked by herself through town. Maybe she was just being paranoid? No way. She'd seen them. Well, maybe they were just wary of her since she was new? Still..

"Jill!" her father barked from the other side of her bedroom door, "Are you up?"

"Yeah," Jill replied hastily, moving away from the mirror. She dressed quickly, and just as she was throwing on a clean sweater there was a knock at the door.

"I'll give you a ride on my way to work, if you're ready in about two minutes," her father said gruffly, opening the door slightly to see whether she was ready to go or not.

Jill straightened up, neglecting to tell him that she still had to put on her make-up. "I'll be out in five?" she haggled, and to her surprise he sighed and nodded, then closed the door. _Ten _minutes later, Jill trooped down the stairs along with her younger brother, and was greeted by her mother at the bottom of the staircase.

"Late," she said pointedly as Jill passed, "Both of you, have a good day."

Jill managed not to snort and come out with some sarcastic comment. She respected her mother and would try her best to have a "good day", though she knew since this was her first day and she didn't know anyone, that was going to be pretty tough. She and Bobby met their father in the driveway, and then went on their way. Jill sat in the car, twiddling her thumbs, tapping her foot impatiently. She stopped when Bobby started complaining. Jill rolled her eyes, knowing this was going to be easier on him than it would be on her. Bobby was two years younger than herself and was only just beginning Highschool as a freshman this year. Therefore, he wasn't going to have to put up with the frustration of coming in during the second last year.

"Excited, son?" their father questioned from the front, causing Jill to snap out of her reverie.

Bobby shrugged indifferently, "I guess so."

"You kids should be happy about this, getting to start afresh and meet some new people," their father went on, ignoring the scowls from both Bobby and Jill. "And I'd better not hear that either of you have been skipping classes. I'm talking to you, Bobby," he glanced through the rearview mirror directly at Bobby, who merely rolled his eyes in reply.

Five minutes later they pulled up outside the school. After saying goodbye to her father, Jill glanced up at what was about to become her second home for the next couple of years. She didn't even notice that Bobby had already gone ahead of, instead she continued to stare around her, as others around her age began flocking into the school grounds. She had been about to join them when a low, growling voice spoke up from behind her.

"Hello, are you lost?" it asked, and as Jill spun around to reply, she fell silent, not being able to believe her eyes.

So, what did you think? Tell me if I need to make any changes.


	2. One long day

Wow, thanks so much for reviewing! It's good to see that people are enjoying this so far. By the way, since I'm not from America and not really that familiar with the whole grading system with schools and stuff, I'll try my best to get it right. Since Jill is sixteen going on seventeen that would make her a Junior, right? X.x Oh well, it does in this story! Anyway, read on and enjoy!

"Hello, are you lost?"

Jill had been about to say, 'No, I'm fine thanks' but the words just wouldn't come out. The boy, or _man, _that stood before her was tall to say the least, and though Jill had thought that she was tall she suspected this guy was well over six feet tall. He had short, apparently bleach blonde hair and was wearing a slanted smile. He was also wearing dark tinted sunglasses.

She eventually realised she couldn't just stand there in complete silence. "Uh, no, I was just.." she couldn't exactly say she was nervous about going in, could she? What would he think of her if she said that? _Jill, since when do you care about what people think of you? Seriously, pull yourself together girl!_

This admittably handsome newcomer stared down at her curiously, "You're new here, aren't you? I haven't seen you around here before."

"Yes," Jill replied politely, hoping to God she wasn't blushing, "Just moved here."

"Where'd you move from?"

"Las Vegas."

"Ah, the city of sin," the boy said, with a light chuckle, "Oh, where are my manners? The name's Albert." He extended his arm to shake her hand, and Jill reluctantly shook it, though something about this guy made her feel extremely uneasy. "So uh, you're what, a Senior?" He asked.

"Junior," Jill told him, "You?"

"Really?" Albert sounded surprised. His eyes began to run up and down her body, and if Jill could have seen the look in his eyes she probably wouldn't have liked it. She was almost glad his eyes were masked by those weird sunglasses of his. "Oh, I'm a Senior. But uh, you look old enough to be a Senior, if you don't mind me saying."

Jill was so surprised by this compliment that she practically forgot about the 'look' he had given her just a moment ago, "Thanks," she replied shortly, smiling thinly at him. Well, so far one person had actually given her a compliment and she hadn't even set foot in the school grounds yet. That had to be a good sign. "I'm Jill by the way," she said after a momentary silence, but surprisingly enough it wasn't an awkward one. The uneasiness she had felt before had pretty much evaporated. She was suddenly excited to go inside and start the day.

She checked her watch then, and noticed that it was coming up to nine o'clock, and knew she should probably get going.

"Well, I'd better go," she said, offering another smile and recieving one from him in return, "Maybe see you around?"

"Sure thing," Albert replied curtly, grinning back at her, "It's been a pleasure, Jill."

_Is it weird that I was sort of attracted to him? I mean, he wasn't bad looking from what I could see of him. I just wish I could have seen his eyes.. it's as if he was hiding them from me or something. How odd. _

Hitching up her skirt, Jill made her way through the large gates and down the path leading up to the large school building. 'Jackson High', this was going to be her new 'second home'. Oh, the joy. Jill couldn't help but whip out her mirror and check to see if she looked acceptable. She wondered how strict the teachers here were about make-up and short skirts. Oh well, there was no going back now.

Once she was ready, Jill joined the throng of students going into the main building. She could hear them all chatting merrily as they pushed up against her, squashing into the building together. Once she was inside, Jill had no idea what to do next. She had no friends to meet up with to chat to before the bell went. All she could do was stand around idly while everyone else passed by her as though she were invisible. Arms folded, she waited impatiently for someone, _anyone, _to tell her what to do. She knew her homeroom class was with someone called Mr. Swann, but where the hell was that? Was anyone going to tell her? Or was she going to have to roam the corridors until she found it herself?

To her relief, she was saved the trouble of doing all of that when she was suddenly knocked to the floor from behind. She suddenly felt furious, not only with the asshole who had embarrassed her like this, but also with herself for not standing in a corner, well away from the large crowds, to prevent something as stupid as this from happening.

"Oh shit!" a male voice from behind her exclaimed, "Oh shit! I'm sorry!"

Jill could hear muffled laughter, and then another male voice, "God Brad, watch where you're going won't you?" it said, and then Jill looked up to see a boy about her age standing over her. "Need a hand?" he enquired with a cocky grin.

"I guess," Jill mumbled, hoping there weren't too many people gathered around to see this. The boy took her hand and helped her to her feet.

"Don't mind Brad," he said, chortling at the boy who stood next to him. "He's just a loser who can never see where he's going for some reason."

"I'm s-sorry," Brad whimpered, and Jill nodded wordlessly in reply.

The other boy was staring intently at her, as if trying to figure out who she was. Jill felt a slight discomfort being under his scrutiny but she remained silent. She looked up at the boy, who was still wearing that cocky grin. He was slightly tanned and quite muscular, and wore a red headband around his head. Eventually, he stuck out his hand.

"I'm Joseph, and this is Brad," he gestured to the blonde haired boy to his right, "Are you new here or something? 'Cause I don't think I've ever seen you before."

Jill smiled easily at him, "I just moved here. So yeah, I'm new here."

For a moment Joseph's grin disappeared. Then it returned, broader than ever. "Well, uh," his eyes seemed to have moved from her face down to her chest, "Who you got for homeroom class?"

"Mr.Swann," Jill replied, watching as Joseph's face lit up as she spoke.

"That's great! Cool! I've got him too!" He looked extremely excited for some reason. Jill thought she knew why. It was then that the bell rang. "Come on, you can walk along with us. Consider us, uh, your new friends, okay?"

Jill smiled sweetly at him but rolled her eyes as he turned away. Still, this was better than nothing, and Joseph didn't seem too bad. Brad on the other hand.. well, he was certainly keeping his distance from her. He was making sure to walk slightly ahead of Joseph, and kept glancing over his shoulder at her as they walked. Jill decided that she didn't mind. Atleast they were showing her where she needed to go.

They finally came to a stop outside their destination: Mr Swann's homeroom class. "Just try not to talk too much and you'll be fine," Joseph warned her before they went inside. The three of them entered the classroom shortly after. It was, to Jill's surprise, already full to the brim of students. Why Joseph had told her not to talk to much was way beyond Jill at this point. You could barely even hear yourself over the noise in there.

The noise and chatter went down some once Jill started making her way past the other students to find a seat. They all fixed on her at once, some offering her kindly smiles, some glowering in her direction. Most of the glowering came from the girls for some strange reason. While Joseph went to sit with Brad, Jill had to find her own place to sit. She finally realised there was only one free spot left, and hurried over to it, sitting herself down and trying to avoid the stares of the other students.

"Everyone, I'm pleased to announce that we have a new student with us this year," Mr.Swann barked over the din, "Miss Jill Valentine. Since she's new I want you all to make sure she settles in well here. Those who don't will have me to answer to."

Jill smiled politely as every single one of them turned to look at her. Inside she was just wanting to sink through the floor. Once they'd turned back around and Mr.Swann had begun taking attendance, Jill looked to her right and noticed that the boy sitting beside her was defacing the desk with ballpoint pen. She sighed and looked to the front, trying to ignore him.

"I'm sorry, am I annoying you?" he asked, as if having read her mind.

Jill glanced back at him and frowned. "And why would you think that?" she muttered sarcastically.

The boy grinned, "It's great to see the new girl has a good, dry sense of humour. So, _Valentine, _where are you originally from?"

Inclined to answer his question for some reason, Jill replied, "Las Vegas."

"Great, I went there last summer with my folks," the boy commented, though Jill didn't really care that much.

"That's good to know," she answered, wondering why she was being such an asswipe when this was her first day and she had told herself she would try to make a good impression.

"I know it is," he grinned back at her. He was quite attractive, really. Maybe not as attractive as Albert or Joseph, but he still wasn't half bad. He had dark, slicked back hair and hazel coloured eyes. "So, I guess you want to know my name then, huh?"

"Not really," Jill answered mildly, and he laughed.

"Coen, are you talking back there?" Mr.Swann interrupted from the front of the class.

"No sir," _'Coen' _replied, giving a quick salute to the teacher, who rolled his eyes before continuing with his boring old lecture.

There was a moment of silence. Then, "I'm Billy," the boy said, taking her hand and shaking it vigourously, "Nice to meet you, Valentine."

"Likewise, Coen," Jill replied, and then she grinned. He grinned back.

It was then that she knew that things weren't going to be so bad afterall.

-

First period was a real bore. Of course, Jill had never considered the subject of Math to be exciting. Besides that, the students in her class kept on staring at her. Eventually though it ended, and she was finally able to get out and escape.. for atleast five minutes, before heading off to her next period, which was History. Well, atleast it wasn't as bad as Math. On her way there she was greeted by both Joseph and Billy in the corridor. She waved to both of them and couldn't help but feel proud of herself for already having made two friends in one hour. She eventually found her locker having been given the combination by Mr.Swann during homeroom. She'd just managed to open it when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Excuse me?" a female voice asked from behind her, "Are you Jill Valentine?"

Jill turned and nodded, "Yeah, that's me," she replied.

The girl beamed, "Oh, so you're new here, right? Well, I'm the one to give you the grand tour, then!"

Silence. Jill just blinked at her.

"The.. what?" she said, feeling confused.

"The grand tour of this place," the girl explained, "You've got to know all about where you are, don't you?"

"I guess so, but.."

"Then say no more! I'll show you around at lunch, okay? Just meet me back here then. Oh, and I'm Claire Redfield, just so you know."

Before Jill even had a chance to object, Claire had scampered off in the other direction. Though she appreciated what the girl was trying to do, Jill couldn't help but raise an eyebrow as she hurried off. _Ooookay, _she thought to herself, watching as Claire stopped and hurried over to a guy standing nearby. Jill watched her give him a quick hug and go on her way again. The guy then looked up and actually looked directly at Jill, who immidiately turned back to her locker in an attempt to look busy.

_This is going to be a very long day._


	3. Got a smoke?

I would like to know what couples people would like to see in this story. Like for instance, Leon/Ada? or Leon/Claire? Stuff like that. I'd be partial to Steve/Claire aswell. Of course the one couple you will most definitely see is Chris/Jill. Anyway when you review please let me know. Also, enter Chris! Mwahahaha! And if anyones seen the movie Clerks, try and spot the reference XD

Thirty minutes into her first History class and nothing interesting had happened yet. Jill sighed, propping her elbow up on the desk and resting her hand on her chin. She barely listened as the teacher, Mr.Jones, droned on and on about something to do with colonial times. She was just waiting for something to happen, for a fight to break out, _anything. _She knew she was being silly in thinking this, but honestly, school bored the hell out of her. Sometimes she wondered why she bothered with it. Yes, she wanted to achieve good grades so she could do something worthwhile with her life, but having to sit in about four different hot and stuffy rooms for thirty hours a week was really beginning to stress her out big time. Summer hadn't been too fun, but atleast it had been a break from this. Not to mention she kept getting the odd glance from around the room. She heaved another sigh, resting her head against the desk this time, about ready to fall asleep.

"Isn't that right, Miss Valentine?" came Mr.Jones loud voice from the front of the classroom.

Jill sat up suddenly, almost falling right out of her chair. She heard one or two snickers from the front of the room and scowled. "Umm, is what right, sir?" she asked, drumming her fingernails against the desk in frustration.

The teacher folded his arms. "You weren't paying attention, were you?"

"No, I guess not."

"Then I suggest you buck up your ideas and learn not to fall asleep in my class."

More laughter. Jill could have cared less. Still, when she glanced to her left she noticed a girl, admittably a pretty one, staring back at her with a giant smirk on her face. As soon as Jill looked over, the smirk vanished and the girl turned quickly to whisper something to the girl sitting next to her. The two of them suddenly erupted in laughter.

"Alexia, Cindy, be quiet," Mr.Jones interrupted them, and the two girls fell silent immidiately, though Jill could still hear muffled whispering from where she sat. Every now and then they'd stop and look over their shoulders at her with stupid smirks plastered on their stupid faces. Jill guessed she'd already made a couple of enemies.

"Hey, babe?"

She turned sharply to see who had addressed her. It was a boy with dark hair tied up in a ponytail. He grinned broadly at her.

"Hey, you must be the new girl. What's your name, gorgeous?"

Jill frowned. She knew this moron's type; horny and aggressive. And no way was she going to put up with that on her first day.

"What's it to you?" she said sharply, turning away from him and getting back to her work.

He edged closer to her. "Nothin, I just wanna know," She felt his arm graze her elbow then. "Did anyone tell you that you're pretty cute? Nah, cute's not the right word. Hot, more like."

"And you're _not _hot," Jill replied, glancing back at him and smirking to herself. She couldn't believe this bozo would actually think he had a chance with her. He was smarmy and not good looking in the slightest. "Now would you buzz off already?"

He actually looked hurt. Jill didn't care, maybe if he hadn't immidiately tried to hit on her she would've given him a chance. The boy snorted, "Well, what the fuck's eatin' you, Princess? Since when's it against the law to ask a girl her name?"

"Since right now," Jill answered aggressively, and he seemed to get the picture. She watched him turn away and get back to his work. A smile crept out from the corner of her lips. She was never usually that aggressive towards guys who hit on her like that, but today she was feeling so stressed out that she couldn't help herself. The funny thing was that it had actually cheered her up considerably. She returned her attention to her work, and the rest of the class went by quite smoothly, albeit slowly. Once it was finally over, and she was free from Mr.Jones' incessent droning, Jill took out her timetable and realised, to her surprise, that she had a free period next.

_Great stuff, now I can just wander around like a loner, since I have no friends here and all.._

And that was exactly what she did. She began by wandering the corridors until the heat became too unbearable and she was forced to go outdoors. She finally found a nice, cool spot behind the school building, though she wasn't even sure she was permitted to be there. She sat down on the ground. Well, things weren't going too bad. Everyone seemed nice enough, with the exception of that pervet in History of course. God, she would have done anything for a ciggarette right then. She knew she shouldn't smoke; her father had told her too many times that it was bad for her and would give her lung cancer. Still, she couldn't help it. And right now she was stressed out of her mind.

It was meant to be a good thing, them moving here so she could make new friends. She knew her family had pretty much detested her friends back in Las Vegas. Jill couldn't help but wonder if that was why they'd packed up and left in the first place. The thought angered her. But there was nothing she could do about it now, anyway. She was here now, and that was that.

She'd thought that her little hiding place here was secret, but of course she was wrong. She was suddenly alerted by footsteps drawing nearer and nearer. It was like an alarm had suddenly gone off in her mind. What the hell could someone else be coming back here to do? Whatever it was, Jill didn't want to know about it. She got quickly to her feet, stumbled, then made to leave. Instead, she came face to face with a tall, handsome boy who looked about her age, maybe a little older. It took Jill a moment to realise she'd spotted him before: he was the guy Claire had hugged before.

He looked initially surprised to see her standing there, but then his look of surprise changed into a soft smile.

"Um, hello?" he began uncertainly, before falling silent.

"Hello," Jill said simply, "I've uh, got to go.."

"Right," the boy said heavily, before stopping and clicking his fingers, "You're the new girl, right? My sister was babbling about you earlier."

_Then your sister must be.. _"Claire?" Jill enquired.

He nodded, "Yep, that's the one. She mentioned she had a couple of classes with you."

"Yeah?"

"And that she's going to give you the tour of the school." He laughed, seeing Jill's troubled expression, "Don't worry, she does it to everyone."

Jill nodded curtly and smiled, then noticed the small pack sticking out of the guy's pocket. Could it be that he'd came along to have a quick smoke before his next class? Jill considered asking him for one, but then she thought maybe it was rude, since she didn't know him and all.

Apparently he'd noticed her looking at them because he then asked, "You want one?"

Jill's face lit up. "Yes, please, if that's all right," she answered.

"It's no problem," the boy replied, fishing the pack out and allowing her to help herself, "And your name is?"

"Oh," Jill found herself blushing, "It's Jill. What's yours?"

"I'm Chris," he answered promptly, taking out a lighter, "So you smoke? You don't seem like the type."

"And you know my type?" Jill asked, eyebrow raised.

"Of course I do," Chris replied coolly, "And you're not the type to smoke."

_Well, he's cocky, but he's kind of cute, too. _

"Well, I definitely am the type," Jill said, actually snatching the lighter out of his hands, "And I'll thank you to mind your own beeswax."

Chris stared at her in a bemused way and then he let out a laugh. Jill rolled her eyes and took a drag from her ciggarette.

"You Juniors, you guys crack me up," Chris continued, recieving another glare from Jill, "But anyway, you're free to smoke all you want. Go ahead, fill your lungs with tar and smoke, that's what the cancer merchants want you to do, afterall."

"Except I'm not the one who bought _that _pack _from _said cancer merchants."

Chris grinned at her, "Well played, Valentine."

Jill frowned. "I thought you didn't know my name?" she replied indignantly.

"You kidding? Everyone knows it. You're a household name around here now, darling."

"Aren't you funny," Jill murmered, grimacing at him.

Chris laughed heartily, "You're the funny one, Valentine. Not nearly as stuck up as I anticipated.."

"Sorry? What did you say?"

"I said you're not nearly as st--"

"Okay, you don't need to repeat it for my benefit."

Chris smirked and took another drag of his ciggarette, "Okay, then I won't. May I ask how how your day has gone so far?"

Jill scowled. "Don't even get me started. Some guy hit on me in History class, that's all you need to know."

"Which guy?" Chris enquired, sounding curious.

"I didn't catch his name, but he his hair was tied into a ponytail and he was butt ugly."

"Ah," Chris replied, realisation dawning on his face, "You're talking about Ben, aren't you?"

Jill shrugged absently, "I guess so. That's his name, huh? Why's he so pervy?"

Chris put out his ciggarette and began to pace around, much to Jill's annoyance. "Don't mind him, he's just a loser who tries to pick up girls and fails epicly every single time."

"Well that certainly puts my mind at ease," Jill murmered sarcastically. She folded her arms across her chest, and just as Chris was about to reply, she said, "I'd better be getting back now, then."

"Why? You must still have another half hour atleast."

Jill smiled sourly at him. "And I'd rather spend it elsewhere, thanks."

"Oh well, I guess I'll see you later then," Chris said, and tried to wave her off, but Jill had already turned on her heel and marched off.


	4. The grand tour

Thanks for all the reviews thus far! And now for that grand tour you've all been waiting for...

"There you are!"

Jill reluctantly turned. The girl was standing there, hands clasped together, beaming at her. It was Claire. Her long, brunnette hair that had been tied into a ponytail when they had first met was now flowing down way past her shoulders. She wasn't dressed nearly as provocatively as the others girl Jill had seen. She appeared to be very simple. She was clad in a plain green shirt and blue jeans.

"Uh, I guess you did," Jill replied, closing the door to her locker. "Is there something you want?"

Claire's face fell slightly. "Don't you remember? I told you I was going to give you the tour of the school!"

"Oh," Jill said simply, remembering Claire's words. It was now lunchtime and since she had nowhere better to be, she supposed she would have to comply. "Uh, so, do you do this often?"

Claire knit her brow, "I guess you've met my brother." she enquired, sounding disgruntled.

Jill smiled, "Yeah, I did. Senior, is he?"

"Yep, he's a year older than I am," Claire explained, folding her arms across her chest. That certain bubbly quality she'd had before was gone. Now she frowned and tilted her head to the side. "What else did he say about me?" she asked, eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"Nothing," Jill said, "I mean, he didn't say anything... _bad, _about you, if that's what you're enquiring."

Claire snorted, "Yeah, I believe you," she muttered, "He just always seems to have something to say about me."

Jill was confused, "When I saw you guys earlier you seemed to be pretty close," she commented.

"Oh yeah, we're close all right," Claire said mildly, and Jill, who couldn't think of anything to say to this, simply nodded slowly, secretly wishing she was somewhere else. "But we're also just like any other brother and sister. We fight constantly, and I know how much he talks about me behind my back. Does it to try to embarress me, but I tell you it won't work."

Jill grinned at her. Though she had to admit that Claire was very weird, she couldn't help but like her all the same. The other girl tucked a stray strand of hair neatly behind her ear and continued, "So, are you still up for that grand tour? I just figured since you were new here you'd want to know the place inside and out. I mean, for example, the kind of people you get here. There's the good, the bad, the ugly.." she bit her lip and Jill giggled, "So, what do you think?"

"Be my guest," Jill answered, "I've got nothing better to do anyway."

Their first stop was the cafeteria, since it was lunchtime and all. Jill marvelled at how large the place was; there must have been enough room for over three hundred students to fit in there. As it was there were already over a hundred there, sitting at tables and talking loudly amongst themselves. Claire took her arm and led her over to the throng of students queueing up to get served for lunch. Jill scowled when she spotted someone she recognised. It was that moron from her History class, Ben or whatever his name was. He was standing a few places infront of them. As she glanced around the cafeteria, Jill also noticed the blonde girl from the same class sitting with a group of friends (who, coincidently, were also blonde) not far away from where she and Claire stood. Alexia, Jill was sure that was her name, was painting her fingernails.

Claire had noticed her staring. "She's a bitch," she commented, grimacing over at Alexia and the rest of the group, "She hasn't given you any stick yet, has she?"

"No, not yet," Jill said with a slight smile, "I'm sure I'll get on her bad side at some point though."

Claire laughed, "You will, there's not one person in this entire school who hasn't gotten on Alexia's bad side."

They stood in line for another ten minutes before finally getting their lunch. Jill had a salad while Claire went all out and had a cheeseburger, fries and a piece of chocolate cake for desert. They found seats and sat down. Jill looked at Claire, "So when does this grand tour start, then?" she asked.

"Already started," Claire said absently, taking a huge bite out of her burger, "Now, allow me to introduce you to, well, everyone." She'd taken on a very posh accent that made Jill chuckle. Claire was certainly a strange girl, and Jill knew it would take a very long time to figure her out.

"The thing about this place," Claire continued with her mouth full, "is that everyone is attributed to a certain group. I mean, you've got your jocks," she jerked a thumb at the loudmouthed idiots sitting behind them, who were all talking loudly and throwing bits of food at eachother. "They're the ones to watch out for. If they notice you, and you're hot, then that's it. You're doomed." She looked Jill over, "I can see that you're going to have a lot of trouble with them."

"What?" Jill snorted, raising an eyebrow. "You're joking, right? I'm not that good looking."

"Yeah, of course," Claire murmered, though she was grinning. Jill grinned back. "And then there's the nerds. You'll get used to them asking you out, just learn to reject them and it'll get easier over time." She pointed to a table a few yards away from them where five extremely "geeky-looking" students, two boys and three girls, were having a conversation. Claire kept talking til she'd explained each and every one of the 'groups' to Jill so she understood them. Apparently there were five different groups; there was the jocks, the nerds, the loners, the plastics and the rebels. Then there were just a bunch of other students who didn't belong to any category. Jill decided she'd much rather be with them.

According to Claire, Alexia ruled the plastics with an iron fist. "If any of them decide they like some guy she likes or has been out with before, then she'll plot her revenge," she turned and glanced over at the blonde and snorted. "She's dressing more provocatively every year. I'll be surprised if she even shows up to school wearing _anything _next year."

Jill almost choked on her salad at these words. She looked over at Alexia and understood what Claire was talking about. The other girl was wearing a tank top that showed more cleavage than Jill cared to see. It didn't help that Alexia was leaning so far forward that Jill could practically see both of.. _them. _

Once they'd finished their lunches, Jill and Claire rose and started to make their way out of the cafeteria. Jill stopped when she thought she heard someone calling for her, and looked around. She then noticed the guy from her homeroom class, Joseph Frost, waving frantically at her. He was sitting with the other kid Jill had met upon first arriving at the school, Brad Vickers. There were another two guys sitting at their table. Jill's heart sank when she recognised one of them. It was the pervert, Ben, from History. _Damnit._

"Greetings, Miss Valentine," Joseph greeted her merrily as she and Jill approached, "And uh, good to see you Claire."

Claire didn't seem to acknowledge him back, and she avoided his gaze completely. Jill wondered what was up as she replied to Joseph, "Hey Joseph, Brad, and.." she frowned as her gaze shifted from them to Ben, who was grinning up at her.

"This is Ben, and this is Forest," Joseph said, gesturing to the two other boys at the table.

"Yeah, I've already met Ben," Jill said icily, her lip curling.

"And I'm totally sorry about that," Ben replied in a false apologetic tone. He grinned at her again.

Joseph rolled his eyes. "Don't mind him, he's always like that with girls, especially hot ones."

_Oh well, atleast he's not coming onto me, _Jill thought, feeling slightly relieved.

"You girls feel like sitting with us for a while?" Joseph asked after a momentary silence.

"We have to go," Claire piped up, taking Jill's arm and dragging her away before she even had a chance to say goodbye.

"What was that?" Jill asked once they were out of the cafeteria.

"What was what?" Claire asked, not looking at her.

"You, and the way you acted in there," Jill said pointedly, "It's something to do with Joseph, isn't it? Do you like him or something?"

Claire turned and raised an eyebrow. "You're kidding? I wouldn't like that asshole if he was the last guy on earth."

"Then why did you seem so annoyed in there?"

This time, Claire turned sharply and frowned at her. "Look Jill, there's nothing going on between me and Joseph. He's the biggest asshole I've ever met in my entire life, and you'd best just stay away from him or you'll just end up getting hurt."

"Hurt?" Jill repeated, thoroughly confused.

Claire sighed in exasperation, "Just take my advice, will you? If you want to survive in this hellhole then you're going to have to try not to fall for bastards like him." At that precise moment the bell rang, signalling the end of lunch. "I've got to get going, I.. I'll see you later."

And with that she left, leaving Jill to wonder what had just happened.

That was kind of a Mean Girls reference I put in there, did anyone notice?


	5. Art Class and Wesker

When Jill entered her next class, which was Art, she immidiately noticed Claire sitting by the window, gazing out into space. Grinning slightly, Jill approached the other girl and sat down in the vacant seat beside her. Claire turned as she sat down and frowned. "Huh. I didn't know you'd be here," she remarked, turning away again.

Jill wasn't going to listen to small talk. "All right, spill," she said plainly.

Claire looked at her, surprised, "What?" she replied, looking blank.

"You! And this Joseph guy," Jill said in exasperation.

"Listen Jill, you've been here for less than a day, you don't know what's gone on in the past," Claire replied calmly, though she looked nervous, "And the past stays in the past, okay? So please don't bring Joseph up to me again."

Jill wished she could let it go, but she couldn't. One way or another, even if Claire refused to tell her, she'd find out what had gone on between them. She supposed she was just a hell of a nosy girl. "Did you guys date for a while or something? Did he cheat on you? Did you cheat on him? Did you.."

Claire glared at her. "No, I didn't cheat on him. I mean.. what? Look, I didn't even _go out _with him, so how the hell could I have cheated on him?!"

"I think you did," Jill teased, "Look, something obviously happened between you two."

This was confirmed as soon as Joseph walked into the room with a group of friends. Claire immidiately froze upon seeing him. She and Jill watched as he passed by them and went to sit right at the back of the class. Jill turned back to Claire and gave her a pointed look. "You can't tell me nothing happened now, missy. Look I, uh, I must seem like a real bitch at the moment.. but I guess I'm just curious."

Claire's face changed then. "I know, most people usually are when it comes to me and Joseph. I guess you should know, since everyone else knows about it already." She sighed and stared down at the desk. "Basically, Joseph and I went out for like.. a week, because Chris set us up. This was around the end of last year. Anyway.." she looked extremely uncomfortable at this point. "Anyway, we hit it off right away. Then one night I went over to his place, and since I was pretty upset about stuff happening at home, he offered me a drink. I had a few and so did he. And _then..." _She looked up at Jill, whose mouth had already formed an 'O'.

"You didn't!" Jill exclaimed, making some of their classmates look up.

Claire smiled sadly. "I did. And when my parents found out, they almost kicked me out for being so stupid. I was forced to break it off with Joseph. Things got really awkward between us towards the start of summer. It felt like everything had changed, so we started to avoid eachother more and more. That's it, basically."

Jill gave her a wan smile. "That really sucks. But hey, maybe you guys will end up giving it another shot."

"No, I'm done with him," Claire said without hesitation, staring in Joseph's direction. "We were never right for eachother anyway, and after that I doubt my parents would even let me see him anyway."

Jill rolled her eyes. Oh, parents. What a burden they were.

"It's all right though," Claire went on, "Plenty more fish in the sea, right?"

"I guess so," Jill mumbled. The truth was, she hadn't come across many 'fish' during her sixteen years. There'd been a couple of potential ones but she'd either grown tired of them or they'd grown tired of her. Jill had mused to herself that perhaps she wasn't destined for the fairytale life: to get married, have kids, all the crap.

Their teacher walked in then and everyone stopped talking and turned their attention to the front of the class. Their teacher was a tall, eerie looking man who looked around fourty five years old, give or take a couple of years. He had dark brown hair and was wearing horn rimmed glasses. He was also dressed quite smartly. The whole class, including Jill, watched in silence as he adjusted his glasses and turned to face them. "Great to see you all again," he said in a surprisingly friendly tone, "For those of you who know me, and I'm sure most of you do, the name's Mr. Yates. I'm here to see that you don't fail Art this year."

There were a few titters from the back of the classroom. Mr.Yates ignored them.

"Anyway, not going to be getting a lot of practical work done today," he went on casually, "In a few moments I'll be handing out brand new sketchbooks to you all. Or rather, Brad over there will." He added, waving a hand to Brad, who was sitting on the other side of the classroom from Jill. Brad looked reluctant but stood up, almost falling over as he crossed the room to get the sketchbooks. "For now just talk amongst yourselves. I'll be right back."

He left the room, leaving them all to wait patiently. "He's not bad," Jill observed lightly as soon as the door closed behind him.

"Yeah," Claire agreed, "I had him last year. He's really nice, actually. But wait til you see.. oh wait, who do you get for Chemistry?"

Jill checked her timetable. "Mr.Willis," she read off it.

"Oh!" Claire said excitedly, "You're going to _love _him! He's so, _so_.."

"You have a crush on a teacher?" Jill remarked skeptically.

"No.." Claire said, blushing slightly, "Not a _crush. _Just a.. uh, slight interest."

"Ha, right," Jill replied mildly, stowing her timetable back into her pocket.

"Jill, you should come out with us after school," Claire said after this, eager to change the subject, "A few of us are going over to Emmy's Diner to hang out."

"Really?" Jill was suddenly nervous at the prospect of meeting Claire's friends, "But I don't know them.."

"You'll meet Becky next period," Claire replied, "You said you had Gym last period, right?"

"Yeah, I did."

"Great! You'll love Becky, she's cool."

The remainder of the lesson went by smoothly enough as Mr.Yates talked to them of what they would be studying that year, and once it was over Jill and Claire trooped across to the school gymnasium. Upon entering, Jill and Claire went to sit with the other girls. To Jill's dismay, Alexia was also there.

"All right," their teacher, who had introduced himself as Mr.Burton, started, "It's your first day back, and maybe you're not really feeling up to it, but in any case we're getting outside to play some soccer. And don't moan at me, because it's already been decided. It's a beautiful day, afterall."

After much moaning and groaning from the other girls (and even Jill had to admit she wasn't overly chuffed about it) they all went out onto the field outside to play. After picking teams, they all got into their positions. Jill was lucky to be pretty good at soccer; she'd played quite often with her dad and brothers. She wasn't very happy to be playing on Alexia's team, however.

"Hey, hey! I'm open!" she shouted to Alexia during the second half of the game. The other girl grinned and sent the ball flying her way. Jill managed to avoid it but still fell face forwards onto the grass. _Well, that hurt. _she thought bitterly, watching as the others came running towards her. She could see Alexia laughing to herself.

"What a game!" the girl to Jill's left said while they were changing. She had short mousy brown hair and pretty green eyes. She looked so angelic that it was kind of creepy. "You really did a good job of avoiding the ball before, Jill. Don't mind Alexia, she does it to everyone."

Jill smiled easily at her as she threw on her shirt. "I guess you're Becky?"

"That's me!" Becky chirped happily, "I suppose Claire mentioned me?"

"Sure I did," Claire replied with a grin, "Becky, it would be okay with you if Jill came with us tonight, right?"

"Oh, sure!" Becky said cheerily, "You're totally welcome to come. The rest of the gang will be eager to meet you."

"The gang?" Jill repeated mildly.

"Well, sort of," Claire responded, "There's me, Becky, Steve, Richard and uhh, Billy.. I guess."

"Billy?" Jill's face lit up, "Billy Coen?"

"That's him. You know him?"

"Not really, but he's in my homeroom class."

"Awesome!" Rebecca chirped, "I mean, I'm sure you're kind of wary of him. He's not really great with first impressions, but Billy's a really nice guy."

"He seems okay," Jill replied, and that was the truth. He'd seemed like the kind of person she could get along with.

"So, do you wanna come with us?"

"Yeah sure, but I'll need to go home and change first."

"I can ask Steve to pick you up in his car if you want."

"Nah, I'll just walk," Jill replied, to be honest she didn't feel comfortable riding in a car with a boy she didn't know. "Emmy's Diner, is it? I think I know where that is."

Albert Wesker was sitting alone on the wall by the gate. He was meant to be waiting for a friend. In truth, he was waiting to catch a glimpse of that girl, Jill Valentine.

There was just something so eluminating about her. He wished he'd gotten the chance to talk to her during the day. Still, there would be other days. Of course she wouldnt even think of looking in his direction, not for one second. He was attractive enough for sure, but most girls considered him strange and his wild hair and the fact that he wore tinted shades on a daily basis didn't really help him much. But maybe she'd see past all that.

_What? Of course she won't. And anyway, what about Annette? She likes me. She wants to be with me. I don't know if I should though, since William's been acting pretty shady since I started mentioning her.._

Thoughts of Annette Birkin ruptured in his mind. She was that small, skinny blonde girl he'd met way back when they'd first started Highschool. Now she'd grown into a tall and _busty _young woman. He was attracted to her, he couldn't deny that, but would a relationship with her really work? He knew she was considered a slut by most of the other Seniors but Albert believed if she were to begin a relationship with him then maybe things would change. But there was still the matter of William, and his concealed feelings for Annette..

Then he saw her. Annette was practically forgotten as Albert watched with interest as Jill Valentine left the nearby gymnasium, accompanied by Claire Redfield and another girl. Albert scowled upon seeing the Redfield girl. Seeing her only made him think of her elder brother Chris Redfield, and thoughts of him made Albert angry.

"Do you think he's..?"

"No, I don't."

"Wait, what are we talking about?"

Albert looked around and saw Jill and the others walking by towards the gates. Jill noticed Albert and flashed him a smile. Albert couldn't find the strength to grin back, so he waved instead. Then she and the other girls were out of sight. Albert sighed to himself and took out a cigarette, cupping the lighter in his hands as he prepared to light it.

_She's nice. Very nice. _

_I think I like her._


	6. Ballistics, eh?

Okay, one thing before I begin with this chapter, about the whole age thing. Someone mentioned in a review of the last chapter that Rebecca wouldn't be in the same grade as Jill and Claire. Well I want to make clear that this story is completely AU, therefore in this story the characters are the same age. So Jill, Claire, and Rebecca are all 16-17 in this story while characters like Chris and Wesker, who are a year above them, are 17-18. Obviously this isn't the case in the games but it is in this story. Just wanted to clear that up.

_Well, that wasn't so bad. _

It was coming up to half past four, and Jill had already returned home to change her clothes. The sweater she'd been wearing for school was carelessly tossed aside as she sought out something good to wear. She wanted to make a good impression on this guys, afterall. Just because Claire and Becky had already taken a liking to her didn't mean the others would.

She'd gotten a call off Steven several minutes ago. He'd wanted to know how her first day had gone. She'd told him things had been okay and he'd been at a loss for words. "Jill, you _never _settle into anything new right away," he said after a brief pause, "I can't believe you've actually made friends already."

Steven was Jill's older brother. He'd remained in Las Vegas with his girlfriend Rhonda while the rest of them had packed up and moved to Raccoon City. Out of everyone she had left behind, including friends and family, Jill missed Steven the most. He'd always been there for her through everything; yes, the two of them had been close. Jill didn't mind Bobby, but she'd never been able to have the kind of relationship she'd had with Steve. Maybe that was because Bobby only really saw her as an older sister rather than a friend he could confide in.

She'd caught him before when he'd arrived back home a few minutes after her. Bobby had immidiately ran up to his room and slammed the door. Jill guessed that things hadn't gone that great for him. But Jill couldn't think about that now. She was sure their mother would try to console him later.

After fixing her hair, Jill replaced her tank top and skirt with her blue halter top and grey jeans. She took a long look at herself in the mirror, and decided that she would make sure they liked her. If she had to tell a thousand jokes, she'd get them to like and appreciate her. She decided she was ready to go and left her room. As she descended the staircase, she saw her mother standing in the kitchen talking on the phone. Jill stood around idly waiting for her to finish. Then her mother turned and beamed.

"You look lovely, Jill," she said, looking proud, "Where are you going?"

"Just to see some uh, friends," Jill replied, feeling uncomfortable.

"Need a ride?" her mother asked.

Ah, what the hey. It wasn't like she could be bothered to walk all the way into town after the tiring day she'd had.

"This is it?" her mother asked, sounding slightly skeptical as they pulled up outside Emmy's Diner. Jill glanced out of the car window and caught sight of Claire sitting on.. wait, a _motorcycle? _And to her left was a guy who stood about six feet tall. He had short, blonde hair. Jill was also quite alarmed when she noticed that his face was covered in bruises.

"Yep, this is it," Jill answered absent-mindly, biting her lip as she opened the car door and stepped out. She went to the window, "I'll just walk home on my own, or hitch a ride from someone."

"You're not walking home by yourself," her mother said firmly, giving her a frown.

Jill rolled her eyes, "Mom, for God's sake--" she started in protest.

"No, I'll pick you up myself if I have to. Anyway, you have a good time, Jill."

They said their goodbyes and she drove off. Jill sighed, turned, and started making her way up to where Claire was sitting perched on her motorcycle. The other girl looked up in delight as she arrived. "Oh, hey Jill! Wasn't expecting you here this early."

"I got a ride," Jill explained, then glanced pointedly at the boy to her left, waiting to be introduced.

Claire understood and smiled. "Oh, this is Richard. I told you he'd be coming, remember?"

Richard grinned broadly and nodded to Jill, "Pleased to meet you," he said curtly.

Jill had been about to introduce herself when there was a loud cry from behind her. She turned, feeling quite alarmed, and her eyes widened. The interruption had come in the form of a girl who looked about Jill's age, maybe a year younger. She was slightly shorter than Jill, and had short blonde hair. Jill might have noticed all of these things the first time she saw the girl, but as it was, she noticed something else. Something she'd come to refer to as 'balistics' later on.

"Claire! Hey!" the girl called out to them, running towards them.

"Oh, great," Claire groaned, rolling her eyes as the girl reached them.

"Sorry I'm late," the blonde said breathlessly, leaning forwards and panting slightly. She looked up at Jill curiously.

Claire sighed, "Jill, this is Ashley. Jill's the new girl. There, now you both know eachother."

The change in Claire's tone suggested that she didn't think much of Ashley, who seemed quite ignorant of this little fact; she was positively beaming at them. Richard stood idly, watching the girls in fascination and blinking rapidly. "It's so nice to meet you! Are you a Senior?" Ashley enquired.

"Uh no, I'm a Junior," Jill answered politely.

Ashley gawked back at her, "Really? You look old enough to be a Senior."

"Thanks, I guess," Jill replied. She should have been pleased about being mistaken for a Senior but infact it bothered her that they thought she looked older. Why this was she didn't know, it just did. Maybe she just didn't want to grow up too fast.

"Are we waiting for Billy?" Ashley enquired with a strange look in her eyes.

Claire looked more than pissed off at this point. "Yes, and Steve and Becky."

Ashley licked her lips, "Sounds good. Hey, let's all get inside, it's really cold out here."

Though Jill strongly disagreed with her since she herself was practically sweating, she shrugged and followed Claire and Richard into the diner. Claire looked stiff and had her arms folded across her chest as they went inside. "I hate her," she hissed to Jill once Ashley was out of earshot.

"Why?" Jill asked as they got seats by the window. Ashley had gone to the bathroom.

"Because she's a tramp," Claire said as if it was obvious, "She's always preying on guys, even if she barely knows them."

Richard smiled and said, "As you can see, Claire really does have a vendetta against Ashley."

"Not a vendetta," Claire said quickly, "Just a strong disliking."

"Are you kidding? You bitch about her all the time to me in school."

Claire turned bright red. "I do not!" she protested, giving Richard a shove.

Jill just watched in amusement as Claire and Richard proceeded to bicker at eachother. She felt strangely relaxed, and it was as if she'd known them for a long time, though she'd only met Claire several hours ago.

_Yeah, it's really not that bad._

"Albert?"

Albert knew that voice. He knew it well. Sure enough, he looked over his shoulder to see Annette Kingston striding towards him. His gaze immidiately dropped to her waist, then down to her legs. She was wearing what could well have been the shortest skirt in history. It was hitched so far up that Albert was surprised that he couldn't get a glimpse of her underwear from where he stood. The first couple of buttons on her blouse were unbuttoned, and her blonde shoulder length hair was tied up in a bun. He had no idea what to say to her. He could only stand there in awe as she came closer.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, and for the first time he looked directly at her. God, she was beautiful. For a moment he tried to comprehend why he hadn't already went ahead and asked her out. As if he would ever get a chance with a girl as beautiful as her. Jill Valentine might have been more beautiful, and yes she was, there was no doubt about that. But Albert knew that Jill wouldn't ever look at him in that way, or even as a friend. Their short conversation that morning had been great, but would she ever strike up another conversation with him anytime soon? Albert didn't think it was a possibility. He was good looking and he knew it, but didn't have the personality to match. Many girls considered him to be cold and distant, and maybe that was true, too. And yet here was Annette, possibly the most beautiful girl he knew, and he was thinking of rejecting her? For what? A girl who probably didn't even remember his name?

He came out of his trance. Annette had repeated her question. "Oh, I," he shrugged and looked at her, "I just needed some time to think about things."

Annette smirked playfully at him, "You never come here. Atleast not after school when I come to pick up the groceries."

"I decided I should," Albert replied with a forced smile, "You know, hang around the grocery store. It's what all the cool kids are doing nowadays."

"You? Cool?" Annette laughed and fluttered her eyelashes at him, "More like _hot, _really."

Her lips parted slightly and for the first time in a long while Albert actually considered kissing her. It had been a long time since he had kissed a girl and though he couldn't really say he was gagging for it, it would be nice to kiss a girl again, to feel that warm fuzzy feeling when her lips touched his. Then this thought left him and he looked away from her.

"Albert? What's wrong honey?" Annette queried.

William. That's what was wrong.

Albert knew very well that William felt something strong for Annette. Maybe it was just a silly crush, or maybe it was something that went deeper than that. Either way, Albert couldn't exactly hook up with the girl who had become the object of his best friend's affections. He looked at Annette again, and felt slight disappointment at not being able to kiss her. However, he wouldn't let his own desires come before his best friend. He didn't want to humiliate William, afterall.

"You look cute when you're deep in thought," Annette told him, brushing against him slightly. It was obvious what she wanted. Annette Kingston always got what she wanted, she had never once failed to get a guy to become interested in her. But then there was still the fact that he and Annette had been very good friends before she'd become interested in him. He didn't want to fall out with both her and William. Then he'd basically be losing the only two real friends he'd ever had.

Albert smiled wryly at her. "I'm gonna take off," he declared, adjusting his shades, "I'll talk to you tomorrow. Later, Annette."

Annette looked slightly stung as he walked past her, but she didn't argue. Instead she simply replied, "Bye, Albert."

Albert didn't look back. He was glad nothing had happened there. He returned home to yet another arguement with his mother, then went to bed early, not even bothering with any of the homework he'd been given that day. He expected to dream of Annette that night, but instead his dreams were centred around the new girl, Jill Valentine.


	7. UPDATE

Hi guys, erm sorry about this, I know i haven't updated in a while. Things are hectic around here i guess. I'm starting college in a few days and I've been busy anyway so I haven't had a lot of writing time. So updates will be alot less frequent from now on. But I'm not drifting away from fanfiction just yet ;) So hopefully when I get around to updating again you will all still be here. That's it lol.

Thanks alot you guys, to everyone who has read and reviewed cheers :)

I'll be back soon!

Anna


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